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Sky Guard
takes on a Sky Guard member with his newly-acquired Blood Dragon.|right|350px]] The Sky Guard were the main aerial military unit of Asylia. They were comprised of normal dragon riders, and were not as well-trained as the Burners (who were, in fact, a division of the Sky Guard). They were used for fighting regular battles, not covert or all-out operations as the Burners were used for; as a result, the Sky Guard were usually on the front lines or defending key fortifications (instead of the Burners' slightly freelance style, called into battle whenever needed). History Not much is known of the Sky Guard's history. Inference tells us that they have been around for centuries, guarding Asylia alongside the Burners since the Great Divide. Although not important in the storyline of Lair, it seems that they still had some bearing on how wars were won for Asylia, particularly the Great Reformation War. It is not likely that the Burners, the elite dragon-riding unit of Asylia, would participate in the many campaigns that would be inevitable after the Battle of the Peace Talk Bridge; it is much more likely that the Sky Guard participated in these engagements and ultimately moved the Asylian lines forward during the Great Reformation War (although they would have had much help from the Burners, who would go behind enemy lines, sabotage as much as they could, then note the weaknesses of the enemy and report it back to their commanders, who would then transfer this information to the whole army and navy of Asylia). allowed the Burners to land on the ground around the river without being blasted to bits by Mokai Ice and Flame Dragons. This allowed the Burners to destroy all of the Mokai's trebuchets, key to their plan to break into the outer gates of the city, and allowed them to obliterate the Mokai ground forces.|left|350px]] After the destruction of Mokai City, the Sky Guard became much more prominent in the Great Reformation War, making up much of the defense force of key military fortifications and huge prison complexes due to their great numbers and availability. You see, Asylia was building up its forces at this time, and it wanted all the manpower and firepower it could get. But because this massive build-up resulted in less training (as Asylia was trying to get these men on the battlefield as soon as possible) and because the massive build-up resulted in the taming of weaker dragons (which would enable Asylia to build a huge army twice as fast), the Sky Guard became much less effective than they would have been against the Mokai Insurgency. This applied to all military units of Asylia at this time except for the Burners in the "strength-of-their-dragons" department. Nothing is known of the Sky Guard after the Final Battle of the Asylian Capital City. It could be that they were disbanded and replaced by the Burners as the main air military unit of Asylia; it could be that they were remade by Rohn and his other fellow Burners to be less politician-run and more in the hands of the people. However, this is all speculation, and is subject to change should a Lair II be released. Training Not much is known about the Sky Guard's training methods or how they incorporated new members into their unit. It could be that they were chosen when they were children and taken from their families; it could have been of their own free will. We will not know unless a Lair II is released. We do know that they went through the same choosing process to obtain their dragons as the Burners did; see the Burners article to learn more about this process. The rest of their training was probably a down-graded version of the Burners. See the Burners article for more information on their training regimen and how they "graduated", in a sense. Life After Training After their training was complete, Sky Guards probably went straight to the front line. This would ensure in times of peace that those lines remained under Asylia's control, and in times of war, this would ensure that those lines would have sufficient manpower and firepower to hold them. Just like the soldiers of today, they would be in service for several months before being relieved of their military duties for several weeks, allowing them to return home for a while and live a normal life once again. This would have ensured that they would not go stir-crazy and that they would not become homesick. This was the cycle of their lives; several months in service, several weeks out of service. The only time this cycle would be broken would be if war was ongoing, in which they would only have a couple of days at best to be relieved of military duty. Keep in mind that much of this section is inferred material or speculation (very good speculation and inference, though) and is easily subject to change should a Lair II be released. Dragons Used It would seem as if Sky Guards used only Plains Dragons as their steeds before the rise of the Diviner, which is duplicate of the Burners. This would make it very hard to tell Sky Guard from Burner, and it is probably the reason why many gamers don't understand the difference between Sky Guard and Burner. After the rise of the Diviner, however, the Sky Guard became quite diversified in their use of dragon. Mostly, they used Wind Dragons as their steeds, as they seem easier to control than Plains or Dark Dragons. The more elite Sky Guard members (still not at the skill level of the Burners, though) probably rode the Plains Dragons. As for the Dark Dragons, due to their violent nature and the difficulty of training them, it is highly probable that no Sky Guard member rode them; in fact, they were probably reserved for Burners. Weapons Utilized No one knows what kind of weapons Sky Guard members utilized (other than their dragons). It is highly probable, however, that they used the same weapons as the Burners did. See the Burners article for more details on this subject. Notable Members *None as of now. Category:Military units